Eight Years
by RazorEdge1206
Summary: Three years ago Scorpius left London for a long-term undercover mission in China. Rose Weasley moved to the beautiful secluded Lake District of England, never to hear from him again. Suddenly they may have an opportunity to resolve their unfinished story. [Sco/Rose]
1. Chapter 1

Rose Weasley sat in a broad chair on her balcony overlooking the imposing mountain figures that surrounded her secluded home in the Lake District of England. She did this every morning, but the beauty of the surrounding land never failed to take her breath away. As she balanced a mug of tea on her right knee she observed the serene surface of the lake in front of her. The water was so still it acted as a perfect mirror for the slate colored fells. Her own fiery colored hair always stood in stark contrast to the muted tones of her environment—if you were to zoom out her vibrant red hair would look like a lonely dying ember in a sea of ashy coals. This is precisely how Rose often felt within her own soul, a lonely ember. As she sat, breathing in the beauty, she slowly got lost deep in the thoughts that the grey color of her surroundings often summoned.

Rose has moved to the Lake District three years ago. She chose it specifically because it was known for it's sparse population. The terrain made it difficult to navigate, build houses, or otherwise populate. Lucky for Rose she was a witch and these impediments did nothing to stop her desire to be alone. The Lake District often brought in tourists, artists, and poets due to its inordinate beauty—but they stayed contained to the roads and accessible areas. Her home was not accessible to anyone who was not magical, because it stuck right off the side of a mountain—held in place by powerful magic. Since her father was the Chief of Aurors it came as no surprise that he put up every possible ward around the house to protect her from harm. In fact, it was the safest home in all of England.

Her home was made entirely of large wooden beams and one huge magically impenetrable glass window. The exterior and interior both displayed the beautiful dark wood that had been harvested from a forest in one of the magical providence of Russia. It had been no simple task, even with magic, for the architects to fashion the beams into a livable home. They built the frame of the house on the ground, and then with extreme magical strength lifted it and secured it with old powerful magic to the side of the mountain. The side of the house that looked over the lake and onto the surrounding fells was made of continuous glass, so that there was never a moment she could not take in the beauty of the land.

Rose did not need a lot of space considering she was the only inhabitant of the house, but her mother had insisted that she should make it large enough to hold visitors if needed. She conceded to her Mum only because she knew that there would be times she might want the company of her large family. She had a spacious kitchen that suited her needs perfectly, a master bedroom and bathroom, a guest bedroom and bathroom, and her spacious living room— which made up most of the house. The guest bedroom could be magically expanded to hold more beds if needed. Her living room and kitchen could almost be considered one room because of their open floor plan. Lining the tall and long back wall of her house were custom-made bookshelves that her Father had made for her. These shelves held her vast collection of books. She had never counted, but she would not be surprised if she owned upwards of 5,000 books. She had been collecting books since she could read. It was a quirk of Roses that everyone accepted as a part of her pure and lovable character.

The décor in Roses home also fit her character perfectly. It was a perfect mix of modern furniture with touches of cozy mismatched items that made it unique. Rose was very minimal in every aspect of her life (besides her books, which was the furthest thing from minimal). Most of her furniture was white and modern, which contrasted with the dark wooden cabin feel that the walls gave off. She made this look work perfectly by adding touches of bohemian décor such as her large golden elephant statue, a mismatched patchwork old quilt her grandmother had made, and her large colorful shaggy area rug that sat under her plush white couches. In the middle of her shelves was a large stone fireplace; the only way into her home was by floo. Visitors would have to owl her before their arrival so that she could cast a spell to open the floo for entry.

Rose was a perfectionist through and through, and she had spent a lot of time perfecting her house. She believed that atmosphere was all-important for a home; she learned that from Hogwarts—the atmosphere of that castle had an impact on every memory she has of her time spent there. As a writer, Rose needed a perfect atmosphere to fuel her brain. She bought a large white marble writing desk that she pushed against the glass wall of her house. This enables her to peer into the vast grey landscape as she ponders her writing assignments; this always puts her in the right mood for writing.

She was more than thankful for her writing gig with the Daily Prophet, which she could do in the comfort of her own home. She wrote an intelligent and witty weekly opinion column about current wizarding world events—most importantly it was anonymous. Rose loved being anonymous. She never wanted to feel like her opinion mattered more because of who her parents are and she liked knowing that people read and loved her column without knowing her identity. Her family knew that she worked for the Daily Prophet, but they thought she was an editor and not a writer. None of them had any idea that she was the voice behind the weekly opinion column entitled _Razor's Edge_.

The closest and most populated town of the Lakeland is Barrow-in-Furness, and when she needed the comfort of humanity she would go there to have dinner or sit in the cozy teashop. There were other witches and wizards that visited Barrow-in-Furness or lived in the surrounding land. There was even a pub and a magical bookshop that could only be located by magic. She frequented Lysander's Book and Quill shop every other Sunday. Lysander was the son of Luna Lovegood, who had fought in the war alongside her parents.

He was the only person in this remote part of England that had any ties to her past life in London, and she his. Out of formality of their close proximity they met every other Sunday on his break from tending the bookshop to have lunch and chat. Rose enjoyed their time spent together and the routine of their meetings. Her family was often hinting that they thought the pair of them would make a swell match. After he and Rose had become good friends Lysander had confided in Rose that he had an inclination towards wizards instead of witches—which did not surprise her in the slightest. She had an aptitude for understanding even the things that are unsaid.

Though she chose this secluded life for herself she did stay in close contact with her family. Many of them thought her decision to move to the mountainous region of England was just a phase, a decision made in haste and further influenced by her aching heart. Three years had passed now and they realized that this was not just a phase for Rose and that Lakeland was her home now. She never had to say her reason for leaving out loud. They all knew what was not even apparent to her, it was because she could not bear to live in a city that reminded her of a certain blond haired grey-eyed man named Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose had not heard from Scorpius in the three years that she lived in the Lake District. The last time she had seen him was three and a half years ago, when he came to tell her that he would not be home for at least the next three years, but that he could not tell her why. " _Trust me_ ," he had said. After graduating Hogwarts Scorpius had joined the Auror department. Then after taking his aptitude tests and scoring exceptionally well, he began an immersive language program to learn Mandarin. He went through two years of rigorous mental and physical training—she knew what was unspoken; he would eventually be placed in the most secretive intelligence program that the British Ministry had. For lack of better words, he was a Ministry spy.

She knew that is was unlikely she would ever see him again and she had spent the last three years getting herself accustom to that idea. It was a life sacrifice to join the British Wizarding Intelligence Program— often called WIP—and many of the witches and wizards involved never came back. They shared an intimate and tumultuous relationship with one another. It began in their 5th year at Hogwarts and continued off and on until he last departed. They never had an official title, and their affair had been a secret until they left Hogwarts when finally her cousin Albus had ousted them. Neither of them had been the types of people to go about confessing their love for one another in a grand fashion. In fact they didn't even bother to make their care for the other apparent. Rose often felt like her life was an unfinished book. There was no neat and tidy ending to their "relationship" with one another.

Rose had a lot of time to reflect on the times they had shared. It was never concrete, always uncertain but never lacking intense passion. It's almost as though they were both too afraid to make it real, because as soon as something is tangible it can be lost. They would sometimes go weeks and weeks without contact, but when they did see each other again they always could pick back up right where they left off. Scorpius had also always known that he was certainly destined to join WIP—it had always been a goal of his. The distance he kept from Rose over the years was to avoid the inevitable heartbreak of leaving her, possibly forever. What he did not realize is that the distance he kept between them did not make it easier to walk away from her on the day he departed for his three-year mission in China.

When the first year passed Rose grew hopeless. He had told her he would not be home, but he did not mention that he would not contact her at all. He never sent an owl, never passed a message through another member of the Ministry, never did a single thing to even let her know that he was still alive. Of course, she knew that he was still alive because her father was the head of the Auror department and would have told her otherwise. She often felt that it would be easier to not hear from him if she knew that he was dead—but he's out there, somewhere, she just didn't know where.

Two years passed, then three, and now Rose was just angry with him. She was angry he never tried to contact her. Rationally she knew that because he is in a top-secret program that his orders are probably to not contact anyone—but that knowledge did not settle her fury. Even just one sentence from him would have been enough. She also knew that she did not really deserve to hear from him either. They were never dating and she had no real claim on him and he had no obligation to write her. Rose had too much time to think alone—on several occasions she had convinced herself fully that he never actually cared about her, that meaningless _fucking_ was the furthest extent of their relationship. The sickening feeling she felt in her stomach when she thought of him proved that this wasn't true, but it was easier for Rose to ignore that—it made her life without him more tolerable.

When she thought too much about Scorpius she often ended up feeling silly and childish. She made wild assumptions about how he must have felt, or didn't feel, about her. The anger and grief she felt did not dissipate over time; it only grew worse each day. She knew that he probably never even thought about her now after all of these years, even though she spends more time than she would care to admit thinking about him. Overanalyzing everything, Rose finally resolved that she needed to get over him once and for all. She wasn't even sure what it was she needed to "get over" exactly, because she would never admit to herself what it was she actually felt about Scorpius. She had spent the past three years blocking out emotions that bubbled up when he crossed her mind.

Rose had been lost in her thoughts for so long that her morning tea had gone cold, but she could barely care. She glanced down at the mug and sighed. It had now been eight years since the start of their affair and she knew that she had been hanging on too long to the idea of him. _That's all it was now—an idea of him that I've has made up in my head. Yes, yes…I must let it go._ She nodded her head as if this would solidify her decision. Deep down she knew that she had made this same resolution several times before.

Her head snapped up as something caught her eye on the horizon. She recognized the large barn owl flying towards her. It was her uncle Harry's owl. Harry had become the Minister of Magic 10 prior, but he always took the time to send letters to Rose every so often to inquire about her well-being. She knew that her Mum probably put him up to the task, worrying that it would bother Rose if she were to constantly bother her. She smiled towards the direction of the owl not yet realizing that the letter it brought would change her life forever and give her a chance to close an unfinished story.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry's barn own landed on the ledge of Rose's balcony. She approached the owl and untied the twine that attached a roll of cream colored parchment to the bird's leg. The owl cocked its head to the side to observe the red head for a brief moment, she narrowed her eyes at the bird— _tsssk,_ _creepy little thing_. She shook away her thoughts and focused back on the letter.

She took a breath and unrolled the parchment. As soon as she saw that Harry had sent the letter on his official Ministry paper dread filled her, she knew that something was wrong. He always sent letters to her on his own personal stationary. She broke the official red Ministry wax seal and began reading…

 _Rose,_

 _There has been an emergency. We need to use your house as a safe house for a compromised undercover agent. I'm sorry for any inconvenience to you, but you live in the safest place I could think of. I am not sending this letter as your Uncle, but as an order from the Ministry. I hope you understand. Please send your reply as quickly as possible. I will be personally escorting the agent to your home._

 _British Minster of Magic,_

 _Harry Potter_

Rose immediately thought of Scorpius. She knew it was silly, there were at least one hundred agents in WIP—the chances that it would be Scorpius were slim to none. _No, there is no way it could be Scorpius. Absolutely NO way….But what if it is him? What would I do?_ – her mind conjured thoughts more quickly than she could process them— _Murder him, probably…Hug him? Cry? Fuck. Wait, he's at St. Mungo's? Is he hurt? Calm down Rose! You don't even know if it's him._

Burning tears threatened to spill down her face, but she willed them not to. A heavy feeling of panic ripped through her entire body. Her heart rate sped up frantically, a thin layer of perspiration appeared on her forehead, and her breath hitched in her throat. She felt like she might throw up. The rational part of Rose's brain told her that she needed to relax, it probably wasn't Scorpius— but, unfortunately for Rose, the over-thinking part of her brain _always_ wins.

She ran inside and scribbled down her response on the closest piece of paper that she could find. It was a muggle receipt from the grocery store she had gone to the day before. _There is no going back to yesterday. Even if it isn't Scorpius this is surely going to be big. I can feel it._ She let the familiar feeling of her keen intuition wash over her. With a slight shutter of unexplained magic that coursed through her body she turned it over and wrote,

 _Harry,_

 _Of course, I have opened the floo._

 _Rose Weasley_

The note was simple and to the point. Of course she would be willing to open her home in the name of a Ministry crisis, it was her duty. She quickly pointed her wand at the stone hearth and said the spell to open the floo under her breath. Purple flames shot up and died down as quickly as they came. Realization dawned on Rose that Harry had not included in his letter when exactly she should be expecting them. As soon as her messaged reached him? Tomorrow?

She watched as the owl took flight with her letter through the open glass doorway. She stood as still as a Hogwarts stone gargoyle and watched until she could no longer see the bird in the distance—she needed to take the moment to catch her breath. Her throat, heart, and stomach felt tight—like something had twisted her insides into an elaborate knot.

Her mind immediately kicked into overdrive at the thought of hosting a guest in her home, a trait that her Mum would be please was passed onto her daughter. Glancing around her living room she assessed the state of her home. Everything was in place, of course, Rose was a clean freak. She made a mental checklist. She would need to put fresh sheets on the guest bed, clean towels, and make sure nothing personal was left out around the house. _What would Scorpius think of where I live? What I look like now? Stop being silly, Rose. Damn intrusive thoughts._

Rose had a reoccurring fantasy of Scorpius showing up on her door step one day, like in the old time muggle war movies. She knew it was silly because a) she didn't have a door step because she lived on the side of a mountain, and b) surely Scorpius has moved on from whatever confusing thing they had in the past, if you could even call it a _thing_.

 _Get it together, do not let your emotions muddle your thinking. Get it together. Get it together._ She repeated this mantra in her head until she had completely calmed down and her mind had cleared. She marched to the laundry room that was off of her bedroom. She preferred doing laundry and cleaning the muggle way, it was an anxiety reliever for her. She went through the motions of preparing for her unknown guest and instantly felt more relaxed.

She knew deep down that what she was really doing was avoiding the thoughts of Scorpius that the sudden mention of an _undercover_ _agent_ brought her. Over the past three years every time he intrusively popped into her head she would shove the thoughts aside. Suppressing these thoughts was the only way she knew how to handle them. If her mind lingered on the subject too long she would be thrown into a fit of memories that never failed to stir emotions so deep inside of her that they rarely had a chance to rear their ugly heads. She preferred these emotions to be buried, but now she was being forced to dust the cobwebs off of the furthest corners of her brain that she had not visited in a long time.

Memories violently flashed through her mind. Rose sat down on the edge of her king sized bed to steady herself. She was feeling disoriented. Her train of thought somehow ended up on the pink leather bound diary that she had kept during her time at Hogwarts and the year following her graduation. She hadn't taken it out to read or write since the day that Scorpius had come to her flat in London to tell her that he was leaving. In fact, the journal acted as a chronicle of every memory she had with him before then. This was precisely why it stayed hidden in a box at the top of her closet.

She crossed the room to her closet. With an unsteady hand she reached for the dusty shoe box on the uppermost shelf—pausing for a moment, unsure if she was ready to relive her past. She padded back to her bed with the box and sat down resolutely. The hot pink journal came to view as she carefully lifted the lid from the box. She cringed at her teenage self's choice of color. It summarized exactly how different she is now from the Rose that existed in the past. She had read an article once that said a wizard's body replaces each of it's cells with a new one every three years…which would mean that her body had replaced itself almost twice since she first touched ink to the pages of the journal. _By the same logic, the body I have now is not a body that has ever been touched by Scorpius Malfoy.._. This thought made her stomach turn sour.

She sat for a moment with her hands resting on the top of the leather bound pages, her eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly—as if she could absorb what was contained within the pages in this way. Her hands worked to untie the leather string that held the cover closed. She turned to the first page. Her sloppy young hand writing covered the page in blue ink. She reflected on how her 16 year old hand writing was large, loopy, and slanted—but the current 23 year old Rose's hand writing is small, neat, and straight.

November 15th 2021 was the date at the top of the page. The beginning of her fifth year. Rose sucked in a deep breath and began to read…

 _November 15_ _th_ _, 2021_

 _OMG, OMG, OMG…What did I get myself into? Last night after the party in the Gryffindor common room I decided to take a drunken after hours walk around the castle. Who did I bump into? You guessed it…The one and only beautiful, moody, blonde— Scorpius Malfoy. By my first look at him I knew that he was drunk too._

 _"Where's Courtney?" I asked him sharply._

 _"Is that your business, Weasley?" He snapped. After considering it for a moment, letting his drunk brain take over, he glanced at me and said, "But if you must know…we've gotten into an argument". For some reason this made me feel delighted._

 _"Oh? Were you not good enough in bed for her then, Malfoy?" I eyed him up and down as pointedly as possible._

 _He snorted in reply, "Actually, it's quite the opposite…" His grey eyed pierced me as he evaluated the short black dress that I put on for the party. His gaze unsettled something deep inside of me._

 _This is when I knew that I was a goner. He looked so sexy standing in the dark corridor that it sent my teenage hormones blazing. Scorpius and I have always had a bit of sexual tension. It has never been seen through because Courtney, his girlfriend, constantly hangs on his side...Not to mention, my cousin Albus is his best friend._

 _The next thing I knew he had pushed himself off of the wall and sauntered towards me. My stomach did back flips as I tried to calm my nerves. His hand brushed a rouge strand of red hair out of my face. This simple gesture made me swoon._

 _"What are you intentions?" I asked haughtily, pretending that his close proximity did not send waves of electricity through my limbs._

 _"Intentions…?" He drawled, cocking his head to the side. "Who said I have any intensions?"_

 _"Well, for one thing, you are standing in front of me with a look on your face like you've already undressed me in your head," I retorted bravely…but I had a feeling he could hear the waver in my voice that gave away my weakness to him._

 _He continued to step closer as I stepped backwards with each of his steps, until my back reached the wall behind me. I swallowed loudly, knowing very well that I should put a stop to whatever was about to happen. He had only said that they were fighting, not that they had broken up…I didn't particularly like Courtney, but I also didn't want him to cheat on her._

 _Any inhibitions that I should have had in that moment had gone out the window with the last shot of fire whisky that I had taken before leaving the party._

 _We became a tangle of limbs and passion as he kissed me. It was like nothing I have ever felt before. I have kissed a few boys, but it had NEVER felt even close to this. My entire body ached for him. My pulse felt too rapid to be healthy and an intense heaviness settled in my heart and stomach. He teased me by lightly biting my bottom lip until I gave him further access to my mouth. After we kissed for the next minute he rested his head for a moment in the crook on my neck to catch his breath. It felt like an oddly intimate gesture for a drunken late night random snog session in a deserted corridor._

 _Then suddenly he stopped and a void was suddenly created in my heart that I had a feeling would never be full again. He pulled back and looked at me harshly, slowly taking steps to put distance between us…like he suddenly came to and remembered that he still has a girlfriend, and that this was wrong._

 _"Shit…Courtney…I …I….I can't do this, Rose. Fuck!" he muttered. I felt the sting of tears fill my bottom lids. Betrayal, rejection…it hurt, badly. He turned and hurried down the corridor…leaving me there to feel like a complete idiot._

 _Jerk. Big FUCKING jerk. I feel completely humiliated! I will never recover from this, how will I ever look at him again? Bloody bastard, he was only using me because he and Courtney were in a fight and it's his sick idea of getting back at her….but….he called me Rose._

Rose read the last paragraph through the tears that had formed in her eyes. She huffed a big sigh and fell backwards to lay on her bed as conflicting emotions tore her soul into two. She felt bad for the 16 year old version of herself. The girl who had written those words had no idea what was about to unfold in their remaining years at Hogwarts.

In that moment she felt like she was simultaneously experiencing every emotion on the spectrum of emotions that Scorpius had ever made her feel—she clutched the diary to her chest as one lonely tear rolled down her cheek. _Eight goddamn years later and I'm still crying over this bastard…We never had a chance to make it really work. No, that's not right. We had a million chances, we just happened to fuck up every single one of them._

Her stray tear was replaced quickly by seething anger when her rationality finally took over. _Three years and he never bothered to find a single way to contact me…and after looking back on all of these years it is clear that he was only using me out of convenience of a good lay—excellent lay, if I do say so myself. And I do. Shit, focus! I am not thinking about sex with Malfoy, absolutely not. Those days are over. I've put all of this time and effort into accepting that I would never see him again—and that's exactly what is going to happen. But, if I were to see him now he would surely be moved on…no one can stay in love with someone after three years of no contact…right?_

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a crack, signaling that someone had arrived by floo…and then a second crack. _Shit, they're here so soon_. Wiping the tear from her face she slowly stood from the bed, shoved the journal between her mattresses, and walked toward the living room. Sheepishly she rounded the corner and took in the two figures standing in her living room.

Her heart stopped for a fraction of a second, and then began to wildly pound against her chest cavity as if it were attempting to leap from her body— _it's him_. But then again, it had always been him.

 **A/N: Thank you to the 1 Reviewer and 3 follows from the first chapter. I hope you like this one, I'm updating so soon because I can't seem to get this story out of my head long enough to stop writing it. Please leave a review if you like it! It will definitely help motivate me to keep going! Do you like the flash backs of their Hogwarts past from her journal? I think this will play out to be an interesting story...I have some ideas! Keep reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Rose had imagined her reunion with Scorpius in about two thousand different ways, she had reconfigured the scenario in her head exhaustively— but never had she imagined he would be escorted to her home by her Uncle after a three year leave of absence from her life. The moment taking place before her was the same moment that she had obsessed over during many sleepless nights in the first year that he had been gone.

Here he was. Right in front of her. She took a deep breath to steady her heart beat and clasped her hands together to keep them from trembling— as not to give away the powerful feeling invading her body. His head was turned to the left, observing the shelves that line the massive wall with thousands of books. Most of her visitors were immediately drawn to the uncommon sight. He had not yet looked forward yet so she took the opportunity of his distraction and quickly assessed whether or not he had been hurt. She released a breath— _he's okay_ …

However, she did observe that in the time that he had been gone he had become a _man—_ Rose felt sick at the notion that she did not know _this_ Scorpius. He had replaced his teenage boyish charm with adult masculinity that oozed sex appeal. This version of Scorpius was muscular, scruffy, and….hardened… _Impossible, he had been beautiful before…but this…is detrimental to my sanity!_ Rose almost rolled her eyes about how stupidly sexy he was. _It's soooo like him to go off and suddenly come back even sexier._

"Hullo!" Rose said in a volume that was slightly too loud for their proximity. She straightened her shoulders and crossed the room to greet them properly. She looked at Scorpius for just enough time as not to betray any emotion that may have shone in her eyes, but also long enough to witness the slightest expression flash across his face that told her that he hadn't known whose house he was in until that very moment.

Turning towards her Uncle she said, "Harry, good to see you. Are you well?" He nodded curtly in reply.

She felt like an idiot for being so nonchalant during a clearly serious situation. Muggles had been in a third World war for the past five years—and since witches and wizards lived among Muggles there became too many casualties of their own for them to ignore any longer. Muggles could wipe out an entire city with atomic bombs instantaneously—and suddenly people of magic began to realize that sometimes Muggles were capable of much more magic than even they were capable of. Ministries of Magic all over the world were stationing spies in other countries to stay one step ahead of the game. A _compromised_ undercover agent is usually a euphemism for "shite hit the fan".

"Let's sit." Harry said, motioning to her large white couches. Harry sat on the larger couch, Rose quickly sat aside him, and then after a moment of hesitation Scorpius sat in the plush white love seat that was angled towards them. This was not one of the better ways that she had imagined reuniting with Scorpius—namely because in her fantasies they there _alone_.

"Rose," Harry said in his most professional Minister of Magic tone, "Scorpius has been on an undercover mission in China for the past three years. He is under no circumstances allowed to discuss with you what he has experienced. His mission was compromised and he needs to stay in hiding until we know that no one is coming for him. Now, I know you and Scorpius are already familiar with each other," he added a convenient pause here, causing Rose's blood temperature rise and her cheeks to flush. She had hoped Scorpius wasn't looking at her, but she refused to find out. Then he continued, "It's only for the time being and the Ministry will compensate you generously for your hospitality".

 _Great, none of that was new information. I am still just as uninformed about what Scorpius has been off doing for the past three-fucking- years._ Regardless, Rose shook her head up and down to acknowledge that she understood. She wasn't sure she could manage to string a whole sentence together at a time like this. The air suddenly felt too thick to even breathe.

"If you have any questions or issues all you need to do is owl me….that goes for both of you." he said as he turned he attention towards Scorpius. Repeating Rose's actions he simply nodded sharply in acknowledgment. Harry glanced between the two of them and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

"Scorpius, you have orders to put together a final intelligence report regarding your mission. Be ready to turn it in within two weeks."

"Yes, Sir." Scorpius said with no hesitation this time. The word "orders" had caused a shift in his body language immediately. _His training had made him a machine. An obedient, highly dangerous, and disciplined spy._ Rose had observed and concluded this just by feeling with her sharp intuition—she never knew if it was _magic_ that gave her this skill, or just a specialized _human_ trait.

Harry stood from the couch abruptly and made way for the fireplace.

"Off so soon?" Rose managed to sputter. "Care for some tea, Uncle?"

"No, I had better not. I have more work to get done at the Ministry this evening. You understand." With a small wave at the both of them and a crack, he was gone.

A deadly mixture of dread and excitement at being left alone with Scorpius filled her stomach.

She bravely glanced at him—being careful not to meet his eyes— and as she did her stomach threatened to jump through her throat. She found that he was observing her with a blank expression.

"What? Is there something on my face, Malfoy?" She asked sharply. She immediately regretted the harsh tone that she had addressed him in. She was still mad at him, but she also knew that her anger was a bit irrational. He sat wordlessly.

In a lighter tone she said, "How about that tea then?"

"That would be nice, thank you." His familiar voice replied.

It was the first time she had heard his voice in so long. She had heard that same voice a thousand time before; when he would tease her, when he would tell her about his day, when he would confide a secret in her, when he would seduce her….He looked different now, but he sounded the same—and this small hint of familiarity warmed her heart.

She stood and hurried to the kitchen to make the tea. She could feel his eyes follow her figure as she filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove the way a muggle would. His right eyebrow peeked in amusement. Rose has always loved the way muggle practices took more time than the instant gratification of magic.

Scorpius once again turned to take in the view of her collection of books. The silent way in which he scanned the contents of her living room made her feel like he was cataloging her the way an agent would a suspect. His attention slowly turned to the large glass window that made up an entire side of Rose's home. The sun was going down and the large glass panel allowed access to an unhindered view of the majestic sunset. The bright sun sunk into to the fells in the landscape— turning the sky impossible shades of pink and orange in its wake. This was Rose's favorite time of day for precisely that reason. Her daily view of the sunset was gorgeous enough to make spontaneous tears form in the eyes of even the most hardened criminal.

She observed his face as he took in the serene image of the sunset reflecting on the small lake below, contrasted with the dark grand mountains that surrounded them. He had the same dark eyelashes that framed his grey eyes, he had the same high cheek bones, and the same long neck that she remembered. She remembered that his neck had always been slender, but now it was thick and muscular—practically begging her to kiss. She wished she knew what was going through his mind, but it was impossible to tell. He kept an unwavering stoic expression the entire time it had taken for the water to boil.

 _What has happened to him in the time that he has been away? Will he ever tell me? Will he pretend that nothing ever happened between us?_

The memory of their last encounter threatened to push its way into her head but she refused it access. Instead she walked towards him with two mugs of jasmine tea, very conscious of hiding the slight tremor that had taken up in her hands.

She set the mugs down on the large gold and white marble table in front of him and returned to the couch that she had been previously sitting on. Quietly, she tucked her legs under her bottom and reached forward to pick up her steaming hot mug. She watched as grey steam lazily swirled in the space above the mug, this was clearly a distraction from the unnerving blonde that sat across from her. Any more silence and Rose would go mad. She searched her brain frantically for anything she could say, but no words seemed appropriate enough to break something as heavy as a three year silence.

Finally he did.

"So, you listen to muggle records often?" He asked. She released the breath she had been holding, slightly perturbed at his lax attitude.

"Huh?"

"Muggle records, do you listen to them?" he asked again— pointing in the direction of the record player, an old fashioned muggle relic that her father had given to her several years prior.

"Yes….but you knew that already." This was a test to see how he would react to her ever so slight hint at their past.

"When I knew you the thing collected dust, but I see that you have quite the collection of vinyl now."

 _When I knew you._ The words rang in her ears. She was annoyed at his frivolous conversation and was suddenly affronted by the urge to yell at him. _Where have you been, Scorpius. Why did you have to leave?_ But it was true, the record player had collected dust then. Rose had developed and honed many new interests and hobbies since he had left. Neither of them were teenagers anymore.

Her brows knit together. As hard as Rose always tried to hide her emotions, her eyes always betray what's going on within her soul. Scorpius had once told her that her eyes were ' _quite_ _expressive_ ' and 'pretty' –that was one out of _maybe_ five compliments she could ever remember him giving her. He was never vocal with his compliments, but he never needed to be because he always told her in the way that he would delicately touch his lips to her skin in admiration. Still, it would have been nice to actually hear once in a while.

Scorpius casually reached for the mug on the table. Rose couldn't help but notice the way his arm flexed through his fitted shirt and the sight of it sent heat ripping through her core. If she was distracted by this one simple motion then this arrangement was going to be a lot more difficult than she had even originally evaluated.

It was incredibly surreal and Rose was beginning to feel dizzy. It didn't make sense to her yet. Earlier today she was eternally without him—or so she thought—and now here he was. 

"Rose? You look as if you've seen a ghost." he said, pulling her from her thoughts.

She took a moment to consider his words and slowly looked up at him.

"Well, I just have…haven't I?"

They made direct eye contact for this first time since his arrival, he held her gaze steadily and a very peculiar smile formed on his mouth. It was so slight that you would have missed it if you hadn't been looking— but Rose was looking.

Their biggest downfall in the past had been that they would never talk about anything seriously, and Rose had a feeling that this time would not be different. It was always how they had been. Her mind drifted back to the journal entry she had read before he had arrived. Their sex had started in secret and continued that way for some time. They had been conditioned from the start to suppress their emotions and only have surface level conversations.

Rose remembered the heart ache of the first and only time she had tried to tell him how she felt. It was six months after their initial rendezvous in the abandoned Hogwarts corridor that night. She could still feel the same burning rejection and humiliation that she had felt as he turned and ran from her without saying a single word. So over the next five years she never brought it up again and neither did he—even when their feelings for each other had progressed to a point where it was no longer appropriate to be silent about them.

Rose felt a crescendo of tight hot emotion move from the bottom of her stomach and up through her throat—she momentarily lost control of her own vocal chords.

"Scorpius…" she croaked, raising her inflection just enough at the end of the pronunciation to convey her pain without mistakenly coming across as a question. _Fuck, where did that come from?_ She was just as surprised at her own action as he was. He had always loved how she took the time to pronounce his entire name. Almost everyone called him _Scorp._ Her extra effort to pronounce the two extra syllables of his formal name always filled him with inexplicable gratitude and a warm feeling of mutual intimacy.

He looked taken aback by the brutal emotion that her voice had betrayed.

"Rose…" he paused for a long moment "I'm s—"

But before he could finish what he was saying she had already stood up and ran to her bedroom doorway. She paused there for a moment, with her back to him and her forehead pushed to the door. He could see her shoulders rise and fall with heavy breath. She abruptly pushed through and just like that he was left looking at the void white paint of her closed door.

 **A/N: Wooooo, they finally reunited after all these years! This is very slightly based off of a personal experience…which is maybe why I feel so dedicated to the story. I haven't decided if I'll ever do a Scorpius POV, sometimes I find it interrupts the continuity of a fic when it gets switched up. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it and I would love some suggestions of situations you would like to see Rose and Scorpius wind up in. I'm sorry for any typos/bad grammar, I'm incredibly busy and wanted to get the chapter up without delay. Thanks a million for reading and stay tuned.**


	4. Chapter 4

When Rose stirred awake the following morning she was instantly mortified as the memories of the previous night flooded into her consciousness. _I'm a bloody wanker! A complete dolt._ She craned her neck to read the display of her Muggle electronic clock. 7:00 a.m. She groaned in frustration and self-loathing and threw the heavy comforter off of her body. She continued to lay still for a few more moments as she gathered the energy to rise from the overly comfortable bed.

Finally, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her face with her hands. _I'm going to have to face him eventually, I can't hide out in my room forever…or can I?_ She considered this as an option, but resolved by giving another huff of breath before standing to take a shower.

It took Rose thirty minutes to shower, cast a drying spell on her hair, put a slight amount of make up on, and dress herself in a pair of dark muggle skinny jeans and a form fitting black tank top. She glanced at herself in the mirror and compared how her body had changed since she last saw Scorpius. He didn't know this curvy, woman-like, version of her body. She suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious about his opinion of her new body, of her new life, of the new _her_.

Rose was rarely an uncertain person, but when it came to Scorpius Malfoy she felt anything but certain. The constant over analyzing function of her brain seemed to be working on over drive. But then again, that's how her brain had always been around him.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself for the impending interaction with him, and pushed the room to her door open. She was relieved to find that he hadn't yet woken up. She set to making tea and muffins the Muggle way to pass time.

At half past 9 in the morning Scorpius made his way to the living room with lethargic steps. She could tell by his wet hair that he had taken a shower and hadn't bothered with a drying charm. _Damn, why does he have to be so bloody good looking._ She felt nervous tension in the pit of her stomach and suddenly wondered if the awkwardness between them would ever settle. She hated it more than anything.

She wasn't sure if she should mention what happened the night prior or pretend that it never happened. After all, they both had a habit of pretending that certain things never happened. She decided this time she would take a leap of faith and try to apologize for her utterly horrid behavior.

"So…about— "they both said at the same time, neither one finished what they were going to say. Caught off guard by their synchronicity Rose smiled sheepishly and Scorpius bashfully averted his gazed to the floor. They didn't need to finish the conversation, that was enough confrontation for the both of them.

"It's Sunday, so I'm going into town to meet Lysander for tea," she stated hesitantly.

His face was set into a hard line. "I'll just be working on my report most of the day," he replied as he dragged his hand through his wet blond locks of hair.

After a brief pause he added, "are you and Lysander…." but before he could finish his sentence Rose cut him off with a chuckle.

"No, no… we're strictly friends who happen to live in the same secluded English territory."

"I always got the feeling Luna dreamed of having you as her daughter in law."

She shot him a suspicious glance at his questioning of her love life. She desperately wanted to change the subject away from her potential marital partners. Rose was suddenly affronted by a memory from 7th year. She had found an utterly intoxicated (and adorable, she might add) Scorpius in the astronomy tower— where he declared boldly that if they both weren't married by the time they were 30 that he would marry her. She had frantically tried to quiet him as he yelled his declaration from the top of the tower. _That was certainly one of the only times he ever referenced a serious future between the two of them, even if it was in jest._ _Surely he doesn't remember that conversation, he was piss drunk that night. He never even brought it up again anyway…_

"Do you need anything from the shops while I'm in town? You can use my desk for writing your report, you'll find all the quills and parchment you need in the drawer," she said motioning to her white marble desk across the room.

He nodded thankfully, "I don't think I'll need anything from town."

"I'll be off then. Feel free to make yourself at home… you know where the kitchen is. Being here alone… I mean, the seclusion of this place can get to you if you aren't used to it…"

"I'm sure I'll manage," he muttered curtly. Though he immediately regretted taking that tone with her.

She was so confused by his constantly changing attitude between stoic and friendly. He was completely unreadable. It was as if he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to put up gigantic barriers between them or try and pick up their "friendship" where it had left off.

She grabbed a handful of floo powder and disappeared without another word—she didn't think she could summon the energy to make it through one more excruciatingly awkward exchange with him. Moments later she appeared in the tea shop that she and Lysander frequented. She breathed a sigh of relief at his familiar face. It was a much needed break from the mounting tension taking place inside her home.

She wistfully sat down at their usual table. The look on her face must have given her away because Lysander immediately picked up on her change in temperament.

"Uh oh," he said. "I know that look, what's going on?"

Her eyes threatened to fill with hot tears, they stung in the corner of her eyes. Her lip quivered ever so slightly but she willed herself not to have a break down in the middle of the shop. Instead she shook her head as she stirred sugar into the tea Lysander had already ordered for her. She took a deep breath in anticipation of telling him about her newfound visitor.

"You're _really_ never going to believe what I'm about to tell you, it's absolutely top secret Ministry business –you can't tell a single soul."

Lysander silently held up his right hand, palm facing her, as if taking a vow. His eyes intently studying her face.

"Scorpius Malfoy is back, and he's momentarily living with me in hiding under ministry orders." Rose paused to take in his reaction. At first Lysander didn't move a muscle, but then he dropped the hand he was holding up and suddenly his mouth broke into a huge grin.

"Rose! It's fate!" he squealed in utter delight. She pointedly rolled her eyes at him.

"Lysander, I don't have time for your romanticism at a time like this! It's the most awkward thing I've _ever_ experienced. And that's including the time in 6th year that Scorpius and I were caught shagging on the beach of the Black Lake by Neville!"

He paid her no attention and giddily clapped his hands together. "Oooh! This is right out of a Muggle movie. Estranged lovers get thrown together as steamy roommates in an unexpected – yet, improbable— situation. The sexy spy and the…hermit," he made arching hand motions in front of him as if laying out the scene.

She scoffed in offense.

"I am NOT a hermit!"

"Says the woman who barely leaves her freaking house but once a week to pay a visit to her dear old friend," he said as he batted his eyelashes at her.

"You're missing the point, Lysander!" she had to mentally keep her volume in check as not to draw attention to their table. "He can barely even look at me. Our conversations are so formal they sound like practice conversations out of a fucking "Learn English" lesson book. There is so much goddamn tension I feel like I'll burst!"

"Yeah, _sexual_ tension," he said as he waggled his eyebrows at her. She huffed in annoyance.

"You know, why am I even your friend? You're mental."

"Because I'm gorgeous and you love me!" He exclaimed confidently.

"He asked me if you and I were dating," she said with a smirk.

He laughed offensively loud at her statement.

"You act like it's entirely out of the realm of possibility. What? You wouldn't date a _hermit_ like me?"

"Love, I'm laughing because it _is_ entirely out of the realm of possibility. Not because you're a hermit—which you are—but, because you don't have the necessary... hardware to satisfy me."

She grimaced and waved her hand dismissively.

"What am I going to do, you git? Harry didn't specify how long this situation would take place. I don't know a single thing about what sort of _spy_ stuff he's been doing for the past three years. Most importantly, I have no idea how he feels about me anymore. Do I just forget about everything that has happened between us? Do we try and be friends?"

She was out of breath by the end of her rambling and Lysander gazed at her with his signature smug look.

"First off all, calling me a git isn't going to help you earn my best advice," he said mockingly. "And secondly, I've been listening to you mope about this guy for YEARS! So you have to understand how this is an exciting opportunity to rid myself of that duty." Rose just glared at him haughtily. He took a sip of tea and then added suggestively, "so…has three years turned him into a _man_?" She couldn't fight the compulsive smirk that came with his question.

"You can't even imagine!" She said with a playful eye roll.

"Oh, I _can_ imagine, Rose!" He said in a tone that dripped with sexual innuendo.

She playfully slapped at his hand.

In an uncharacteristically serious tone Lysander said, "Here's what you do. We go shopping and get you a drop dead gorgeous outfit that he won't be able to resist. Then, you let me do something with that hair of yours…" Rose shot him an icy glare. "Lastly, you grab some Chinese take away and a movie and bring it home to him as a way to break the ice and show that you want to be friends."

She considered what he said for a moment and nodded. _It does sound like a good plan. Subtle seduction and a possible way to ease into a non-awkward friendship with him._

"Okay."

"Okay?" He asked incredulously. "Since when do you ever willingly go along with my plans, Rose Weasley? Are you ill?"

She gave him a simple shrug, "Since I'm all out of good ideas when it comes to Scorpius. This has been an 8-year battle that neither one of us has ever seemed to win."

"Maybe that's your problem. If you think of it as a 'battle' then you're always going to have barriers. You're both guilty of emotionally and mentally torturing each other over the years. A long history can't be healed overnight." She was taken aback by his insight. _Maybe I play the victim too often when it comes to Scorpius. Maybe I haven't taken enough blame for our state of affairs._ She bit her plump lower lip and didn't break her moment of outward silence.

"Look, I'll close the bookstore for the rest of the day. Let's just have a girls pamper day to help relax you. Then you'll be ready to go back and face him this evening. You know that eventually you both need to have a long serious discussion, which I know neither one of you are particularly fond of doing. The sooner you get it out of the way the better," he said with exasperation. He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like " _children, I swear_ ".

By 4 p.m. that evening Rose was standing in front of Lysander's floo preparing to go back and face Scorpius. She and Lysander had spent the rest of the day at their favorite spa being pampered. Rose was feeling elated by the lovely day that they had spent together. Her skin was glowing from her facial, her nails were perfectly manicured with red polish to match her hair, her hair was charmed to fall down her back in perfectly silky smooth waves, and she sported a new sexy but casual outfit picked out by Lysander. Rose wasn't often a materialistic girl, but she had desperately needed something to take her mind off of her anxieties surrounding Scorpius' arrival.

With the Chinese take away and a bag of Muggle DVD's in hand she flooed back to her home, her stomach did rapid somersaults—which she knew better than to attribute to travelling via floo. Upon her arrival she was greeted to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits album playing loudly on the record player. She observed Scorpius as he furiously scribbled on a piece of parchment at her desk with his back to her.

She fought off a smile at the memory of them blasting the track Spirit in the Night by Springsteen while they flew on his broom past curfew during their 5th year. Rose was suddenly hit by an odd feeling—akin to nostalgia, but slightly different. This moment—her bringing dinner and a movie home while he listened to music while working—was something she had daydreamed about back in their Hogwarts days. Of course, in that daydream they were happily in a relationship, what was happening currently was anything but an ideal situation. Her smile vanished, but she put on a brave face.

Rose set down the Chinese food and movies on the living room table and walked over to the record player to pick the needle up and stop the music. The sudden silence didn't break his concentration from his work. He was hyper focused on writing his report and she had the strongest urge to read what he was writing—to have any sort of insight about his absence.

"Scorpius," she called.

Startled, he looked over to her.

"Oh. I didn't hear you come in."

"Clearly."

His eyes blatantly looked up and down her form as he cataloged the changes in her appearance from that morning. _Of course a fucking SPY wouldn't let the small details get by him._ Her face reddened but she decided to ignore his gaze.

She worked up the courage to invite him to join her in eating and watching a film.

"So…I…Uhh…" she spluttered. "I picked up some Chinese take away and a film, if you want to join me." She motioned to the sofa.

He considered her offer for a moment, looking down at his work to calculate his progress. She held her breath as he mentally made his decision, suddenly she worried that he might decline her offer—she hadn't thought about that possibility yet.

"That sounds nice," he said decidedly. He vanished his papers and stood up—she couldn't help but watch as he reached his arms over his head to stretch out his back from sitting at the desk all day. She admired his thick muscles that she longed to run over and touch. _Stay focused, Rose._ He caught her eye and she swore before she looked away she saw the corner of a smirk appear on his lips.

He made his way over to the couch and plopped down. "What film?" He asked casually.

"I brought a couple choices," she replied hesitantly. "Go ahead and look through them and choose one. Wine?" She asked.

"Sure, a red if you have it, please."

"I know," she said simply as she turned around to grab the bottle and two glasses from the kitchen.

She came and sat next to him on the plush white couch as he considered the movie options. For a fleeting moment she felt the comfort that she used to find in their interactions with one another. However, their proximity was making her feel slightly dizzy. She had never been able to control the reaction her body has for him. It was a dizzying and warm reaction reserved just for him.

He chose The Big Lebowski and she smiled at his choice. Using her wand, she popped the disc into the DVD player as her large projection screen slowly descended from the ceiling. As the opening movie trailers played they dished out their food in silence. She wasn't sure what to say, and apparently he didn't either. Rose silently cursed Lysander for coming up with this idea. _This ice is going to be harder to break than I expected._ She poured them both generous glasses of wine. _There, that ought to help._ Surprisingly Scorpius broke their silence first.

"You know, this most certainly isn't _Chinese_ food," he said with no discernible mood.

She rolled her eyes at him. "We all know that, but this is about as authentic as if gets in these parts." Rose clammed up at his reference to his time spent in China. For some reason that topic terrified her—but at the same time she was curious to know what he experienced there, but was also slightly worried he experienced something that changed his life…something was definitely different about him.

"So how was your day with Lysander?" He asked in a sudden change of topic as he swished his wine around in his glass impulsively. "Did you do plenty of gossiping about me?"

Rose was caught off guard by his question. She responded by arching her eyebrow at him and giving him a sidelong glance. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied as she took another bite of her stir-fry.

She took a large gulp of wine as her throat had suddenly become dry. As if on cue the main menu to the DVD came onto the screen and she hit play as quickly as possible to avoid the rest of their conversation. _I can't keep running away from confrontation._ Lysander's words about "sooner rather than later" replayed in her head. For now, she was fine leaving things how they were.

They both ate their food and drank their wine in silent contentedness as they watched the film. The atmosphere slowly relaxed around them as they both became more accustom to being together after three years of separation. So much uncertainty still lingered between them. As far as Rose was concerned, this was still a huge step in the right direction if they were going to make living together work—even if it felt a bit awkward and contrived.

She wrapped herself in her grandmother's large quilt and laid to side to rest her head on the couch arm. Her toes were nearly four inches from touching Scorpius' thigh and they were both acutely aware of the distance between them. The mixture of pampering, wine, a fully belly, and the rare comfort of having companionship made her eyelids heavy. The next time that he glanced over at her she was fast asleep.

Unsure if he should leave her on the couch or not he decided it best to bring her to her room. He easily scooped up her small frame in his arms and carried her to her bedroom where he gently laid her down on the bed. He looked for any signs of her waking up, but she stayed peacefully asleep.

He took this moment to really look at her face for the first time since his arrival. He hadn't had the courage yet to look her boldly in the face. Truthfully—he felt a lot of guilt and other repressed feelings for the way things were left between them before he went to China. He had resolved to keep her at a distance until he could work through those emotions.

The silky waves of her long hair were framing her sleeping face—he observed the traits about her face that he had always found the most beautiful, he decided they were now slightly aged in the perfect way; the long dark eyelashes of her closed eyes, her wide rosy cheeks, her small button nose, her pouty pink lips, and her angled chin.

He made sure the blanket covered her and in a moment of weakness placed a small kiss in the center of her forehead before retreating to his own room.


	5. Chapter 5

_Flash back -_

 _Rose approached the Room of Requirements thinking about Scorpius as hard as should could. She focused her thoughts on what his face looked like when he laughed— the little crinkle in the outer corner of his eyes when he really thought something was funny. Conjuring her favorite images of him usually did the trick to reveal their secret meeting place._

 _A door appeared along the corridor wall and she pushed it open to reveal Scorpius watching a Muggle television show. He was sitting on a plush maroon couch with a bottle of fire whiskey in front of him—he had his feet propped on the table, his hair looked deliciously disheveled, and he had his uniform sleeves rolled up with the top two buttons undone._ _She had to take a deep breath to gather her wits at the sight of him._

 _This was their routine. He would owl her and they would meet in the Room of Requirements to hang out. Sometimes they drank and if they would drink too much they would end up spending the night together in a less that platonic way._

 _Plopping in the seat next to him she sighed a "hi". He looked over at her and gave a genuine smile. Her stomach flip flopped at the sight, but she pushed the reaction from her mind. He focused his gaze back to the screen in front of them. They sat in silence for several comfortable minutes._

 _They had only recently made up. It had been one of their worst arguments yet, the air between them was still slightly tension filled. It was their seventh year and Rose was exhausted of being his secret. They had gone through a roller coaster of a relationship—all of which she had to internalize because he treated her as a distant friend in the public eye._

 _She finally blew up at him after Albus caught him in a lie about where he was spending his Saturday evenings—instead of coming clean he had spun an even bigger lie. She was hurt that he would rather continually lie to his friends instead of admitting that he was with her. It made her question everything about herself—was she not good enough? Was he embarrassed of her?_

 _After not speaking to each other for two weeks Rose agreed to meet him for their usual Saturday night routine in the Room of Requirements. He had somehow convinced Rose that their secrecy was necessary—he was always able to convince her. He convinced her that it was their time together and that the intimacy of it made it more personal and sacred. His smooth words were always able to draw her back into him._

 _She knew what kind of person he had the potential to be— she saw it in the way that he always got her the most thoughtful presents on Christmas or in the way that he would passionately talk about Muggle politics. She irrationally continued to forgive him for his treatment of her time and time again, because she was so attached to the beautiful parts of him._

 _Scorpius snapped his fingers and two chilled glasses of the whiskey appeared on the table in front of him. She happily accepted the drink when he held it out in offering. She propped her legs up next to his on the coffee table. They both sipped and Rose let out a light chuckle at a funny scene that played on the television in front of them. Scorpius subconsciously swirled his drink within the glass._

 _What she treasured the most about Scorpius was their moments of silent contentedness. They never had to speak words to communicate their emotions, even if their verbal communication left a lot to be desired. They continued this way for quite some time. Rose began to feel the buzz of the magical alcohol in her veins, she slowly loosened up and shook off the stress of NEWTs._

 _She turned towards him to break their silence._

 _"_ _We did tarot readings in Divination today."_

 _"_ _Yeah?" he asked, "and what revelations did you uncover."_

 _"_ _Well it was interesting," she replied._

 _"_ _Everything is interesting with you," he said decidedly as he took another sip of his drink._

 _She shifted to bring her legs under her and to angle her torso towards him. He mirrored her action sensing that she wanted his full attention._

 _"_ _Apparently, Professor is convinced that I'm like a "modern embodiment of The High Priestess", she said she's never seen a line-up of cards like mine before."_

 _He frowned in contemplation and she could see his mind working to formulate a response, seemingly lost in deep thought. He was well versed in tarot readings. It was something his mother specialized in. Rose didn't want to tell him what else Trelawney had said for two reasons; firstly, she has a sneaking suspicious it was about her and Scorpius, and secondly, if it was about them she definitely wasn't ready to face the meaning._

 _"_ _It makes sense," he murmured. "Immeasurable wisdom, intuition, and understanding... You know that's actually probably the best compliment someone could ever pay you."_

 _Rose blushed, she was a modest person— and for someone to compare her to such an esteemed figure as The High Priestess…well, it made her uncomfortable. Being near Scorpius always made her feel drunk, even when they weren't drinking. In that moment, her connection with him felt unnaturally strong, tangible almost. Every atom in her body felt like it was vibrating in harmony with his presence and proximity to her, she wondered if he was feeling it too._

 _She tilted her head and studied his face for a moment, "I don't know; I think it's all hogwash. A luck of the draw…"_

 _"_ _Is it?" He asked seriously._

 _She waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Maybe, maybe not… but I am certain that professor Trelawney is smoking something."_

 _"_ _You know my mom practices tarot," he stated. "I often focus my energy on the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Isis when I meditate—The High Priestess. Mother did a reading when I was a child, since then she has always said that she can feel a pull of magic from The High Priestess and Her influence in my life force."_

 _Rose didn't let the surprise show on her face, but a flood of thoughts washed through her brain. A lot of people thought witches and wizards only did physical magic—but she had been taught by her parents that magic touches every aspect of their lives…most importantly, love. Uncle Harry experienced this first hand when he learned his Mother's love is what saved him during that fateful first meeting with Voldemort._

 _"_ _Really?" She questioned sheepishly, afraid to scare him away from speaking on the subject._

 _"_ _Really," he nodded. "I have a statue of her in my room at the Manor."_

 _"_ _Well, that's certainly coincidental," she commented._

 _"_ _Maybe, maybe not," he said, mocking her previous words and then winked at her._

 _She stuck her tongue out at him in jest, not quite ready to seriously consider the implication of his words. That didn't stop tight knots from forming in her stomach._

 _"_ _We do have the same birthday," he added, suddenly serious again. "Trelawney would have a field day with our numerology."_

 _She shrugged and glanced down and pretended to study her drink as she reflected on their past few birthdays together. Albus had figured out that they were born on the same day during their first year. It had always been something that connected them even before they got to know one another—and it gave her an oddly sentimental soft spot for the boy._

 _Rose found it quite curious that that Trelawney's earlier words referenced a person in her life of the same star sign as her. Maybe it wasn't about Scorpius, but they did have the same exact birthday and they were Gemini— the twins. Maybe eventually she would tell him the rest of the story._

 _They had spent the evening together on their birthday for the past two years, it was becoming somewhat of a tradition. Rose felt anxiety wash over her as she realized that this year they would already be graduated from Hogwarts on their birthday. Graduation was only one short month away. They hadn't yet discussed what their relationship with each other would be like once they left the castle for good, and this realization made Rose's blood run cold._

 _She felt him lean forward and suddenly he kissed her face gently. Rose let her eyes flutter close. He caressed her opposite cheek while trailed dsoft kisses down her neck._

 _"_ _You're so beautiful," he murmured._

 _Moments like that had Rose convinced that they connected in a more intimate way than just sex— they had a type of rare synchronicity. Of course they were friends. Even if Scorpius pretended their sex was meaningless, there was no denying that his emotions sometimes took ahold of his actions._

 _Rose wanted to hold onto the moment forever—he rarely was open about his feelings for her._ _She knew the moment was fleeting and tomorrow he would likely go back to pretending she was just his best friend, and only behind closed doors at that. She leaned into his kisses and let a smile break out onto her face. That night their sex was not just sex, but a passionate exchange of magical energy._

O0o0o0o0o0o00o0o

Rose suddenly snapped out of her day dream and realized she had been doodling large geometric patterns across her parchment while she had been lost in her thoughts.

Several days had passed since they had watched the movie together on her couch. They continued to only speak to each other when necessary, and the heavy tension between them hadn't dissipated. She had an article due in a few days and had been absolutely unable to concentrate on the topic long enough to write anything worthwhile.

Rose sighed and threw her quill onto her desk, splattering blue ink across the white marble. Using wordless magic, she flicked her wand to clean up the mess she had made. She was only becoming more frustrated with her assignment as time passed. She decided to venture out onto the deck in hopes of finding inspiration, or at least a bit of peace of mind. The large mountains always seemed to humble and calm her when she needed it.

Scorpius' sudden stoic presence in her life was throwing off every routine she had established during his absence. She was forced to accommodate him as a guest while also exploring the deeply rooted emotions that surrounded her concept of him. She rested her elbow on the ledge and her head on her hand as she peered down at the lake water below—continually lost in thought.

She suddenly felt his presence on the deck but made no move to acknowledge him. To her surprise, he came up right next to her and propped his elbows on the ledge as well. They glanced at each other and then averted their gaze just as quickly.

"Rose," he said lightly. "Let's talk. I mean, really talk."

Her stomach clenched with anxiety. _What does he want to talk about? This is so unlike him to be forward. S_ he nodded her head ushering him to continue, unable to conjure words.

"I know that I've been…distant since I arrived here. I just wasn't sure how to react seeing you after all these years, I still don't. I know you were mad when I left, I wasn't sure if you wanted to have anything to do with me now, and then you've been so nice and hospitable to me. I don't deserve your kindness. Honestly, I've done a lot of reflecting over the past few years. I'm a different person, and I can tell you're a different person too. I've never been good to you the way I should have…"

This was the most honesty about their relationship she had ever received from him. She couldn't bring herself to return his gaze, but she could feel him searching her face for any hint at what her reaction to his words might be. Instead she fiddled with a string on the hem of her blouse.

"That's not true," she whispered. "You we're good to me at times, when you wanted to be."

"I know how I must have made you feel, in our Hogwarts days. I wasn't a good person. I was a liar, a cheater, and a right arsehole…Then after Hogwarts, when people found out about us, I wouldn't commit to you and I continued to keep you at am armlength. I had my reasons, but I never shared those reasons with you, I should have…but no matter what I put you through you always stood by me. I took advantage of your unrelenting loyalty to me. Rose, I've struggled with so much guilt for my past actions. I don't expect you to forgive me."

Rose was taken aback by his sudden veracity, which wasn't a trait she had ever been able to attribute to him. The back of her throat tightened, a usual sign that she wanted to cry.

"I….I just wish I had tried to fix it before I left," he said somberly. "At the time I thought it would be easier for you to hate me while I was gone, but I realize now how unfair it was to you."

Rose was at a loss for words. Her thoughts felt like they were sloshing around in her head—making it impossible to string words into sentences.

"Well, can you say something? I'm over here being all cathartic while you're off in your head somewhere!" he exclaimed.

She nervously looked at him, thoughts rushing through her head faster than she could keep up with them.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Scorpius!" she said, her voice cracked under the heavy emotion she was feeling. "I've had three years to think up what I wanted to say to you, and then you went and said all of that and ruined my plans!"

"Come on, let's go inside. I'll pour us some wine so you can relax and we can have a much-needed chat. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

They got settled on the couch, wine glasses in hand. Rose bit her lip out of nervous habit.

Neither one of them had the courage to say the first words, they sat in oppressive silence. Finally, Scorpius craned his neck and looked at her, mustering the strength to vocalize the words playing behind his lips. He shifted his body so that he was facing her and she hurriedly took a sip of her wine.

"I don't know where we should start this," he said, shaking his head.

"Honestly, I just wanted to hear from you. I just wanted to know that you were okay. Three _years_ Scorpius, and not a single word from you."

"You knew that it was my job, Ro," he said. "I didn't have a choice. During my training, another Auror told me a story about how he was captured by enemy forces and they threated to kill his wife if he didn't give up Ministry secrets—he told me he wished he had been smart enough not to have a family considering his line of work. I couldn't let that happen to you, to us. I knew what I was signing up for, it's not child's play out there. Agents are losing their lives for the Ministry!"

Dread filled the pit of Roses stomach as she wondered what kinds of things Scorpius had experienced in China. He clearly was a different person— now when she searched his eyes she found a different gleam in them than the one she had grown accustom too. This fact just made her want to hold him close to her.

"I just never could figure out why you always kept me at an armlengths away from you…it was always like that. I just thought...just thought maybe I was never good enough for you," she said quietly, bowing her head to avoid his searching eyes.

"Rose, you were perfect for me. At first I was an immature arsehole who didn't know what he had going for him. Then once I realized how much you meant to me….then I was just trying to _protect_ you!"

"Yeah? Well why did I never get a say in that decision, Scorpius?" she questioned exasperatedly, raising her voice. "Maybe I didn't want to be protected. Maybe if we had talked about our feelings sooner we would be meeting now in a different way!"

"A different way," he laughed. "Yeah, like a casket."

Rose had an unsettled feeling of guilt building in her chest. She knew she should go easy on him, it was his job after all…but how did he get off just leaving for a three-year mission without so much as saying "trust me" and vanishing. It was bullshit that still didn't make sense to Rose.

"You don't know that," she said, finally building the courage to look him in the eye. "I would have waited. If you had given me the option to wait out the three years as your girlfriend that would have been preferable to waiting it out not having a clue in the world if I would ever see the love of my life ever again!

Roses jaw dropped as she realized what she had admitted. The L word had always been strictly off limits between them, it was an unspoken rule they followed.

"Rose…" he trailed. "If I had known it would be that hard for you…"

"You what? If you had known that I would coop myself up in the middle-of-fucking-nowhere for three years, grieving you..." she paused, he observed her chest heaving with her uneven breath as heavy emotions rushed through her blood stream. "What would you have done differently, Scorpius? I'm truly curious, because for the better part of five years you never had the courage to speak up!"

Rose realized she was now shouting, so she continued in a lower voice this time, "…and the one time I ever tried to confess my feelings for you, you ran from me and then pretended it never happened a week later. At least I TRIED!" she huffed.

Scorpius looked utterly pained at the grief he had caused her. He could only truly comprehend the unbearable heart break he had experienced after he left— he never took into consideration how life shattering it was for her also. She wasn't completely without blame in the way things played out in their "relationship", if you could call it that.

They had both been afraid of commitment, but Scorpius always knew that his career path was going to be too dangerous to bring her into—and that's why for all those years he pretended that they were just friends who also fucked sometimes. He had been fooling himself, and he knew it. Still, he also knew that running from Rose the night she confessed her feelings was the worst crime he could have committed—Rose rarely gave second chances.

"I'm sorry," he said softly but genuinely, attempting to ease the thick atmosphere between them. "You're right, I didn't have it in me to make the right decisions back then to tell you how I really felt. Honestly, Rose, I just didn't want you to wait around for someone who might never come back—I just never realized that's what you would have to do either way."

Her eyes widened at his concession, but at the same time she let out a breath of air that she felt like she had been holding through the entire conversation. Relief flooded her body as she realized that maybe they could repair themselves, after all those years apart—even if it wouldn't be in the capacity she was hoping it to be.

"We don't even know each other anymore, Scorpius," she said after a long, yet comfortable, lull in their conversation.

"Why don't we change that?"

"Get to known each other, again?" she questioned.

"How much time do you have?" he asked, carefully studying her face.

She sarcastically looked at her wrist, which didn't contain a watch.

"Hmm, I think I have some time."

"Good," he said. A bright smile formed on his mouth, a smile she hadn't seen in so long, a smile that made Rose's heart swell beyond capacity.


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next several weeks, after Scorpius' uncharacteristic apology, Scorpius and Rose coexisted in their secluded living arrangements quite nicely. Both suppressed their evermore confused emotions by working tirelessly on their respective work. Rose busily set to researching her latest article, which would discuss recent legislation surrounding magical forest conservation, as Scorpius worked on Mandarin to English translations for the Ministry.

Their cathartic conversation had cleared some of Rose's resentfulness surrounding the heartbreak of their past and the uncertainty of their future, but she was still too weary towards him to outright let all her walls down. They both internally and silently battled conflicting emotions while also balancing workloads that required tedious attention.

Nonetheless, their days settled into an easy routine of meals, work, conversation, more work, tea breaks, and occasional leisure activities like chess or films. Their domesticity was intimate in its own right. On this evening, they were both seated on the plush couch in silence as they concentrated on work. Rose was reading a large tome on the history of magical forest discoveries, with her feet propped on the coffee table and her hair cascading around her face wildly.

Scorpius had been engrossed in a particularly challenging translation. His eyes were beginning to hurt from such intense concentration so he decided to lean his head back and rest his eyes. His movement piqued Rose's attention and she glanced over the page of her book and landed her gaze on his face. She couldn't help but think he looked very peaceful and lovely, a small and unexplained flutter erupted within her stomach.

There was no doubt the man was brilliant. She had picked up the habit of watching him, unnoticed, while he worked. She admired his sense of dedication. Not only was he smart, but he was gorgeous. The flames from the fireplace emitted light which cast shadows across his face, making his handsome features stand out.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, as if to vanquish the warmth spreading through her body that was caused by looking at him, but when she opened them she found that now he was looking at her. Her cheeks flushed red at being caught in the midst of an emotional crisis, which most likely looked ridiculous from his point of view. _Shite, he probably thinks I'm mental,_ she thought.

Instead of commenting on her odd behavior he caught her off guard by flashing a rare and genuine smile at her. She quickly averted her eyes and made a show of stretching out her limbs and groaning to shake off the stiffness that had settled into her body from sitting intently for so long. She didn't want to hold his eye contact out of fear that her eyes would betray her thoughts of his virtues and handsomeness.

"Should we eat?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Rose was looking around the room, seemingly dazed, trying to come back to reality after being lost in reading and then in thoughts of Scorpius.

Suddenly she was struck with an idea, neither of them had left the house recently and she was becoming a bit stir crazy and she could tell he was too.

"Let's go to town, there's a great Italian restaurant and I need to pop into Lysander's bookstore to pick up an order he's holding for me."

He considered her for a moment, no doubt weighing in his head if it would be considered breaking his orders to leave her house before it was technically all clear for him to do so. The region was so secluded, he doubted there would be any sort of breech of security so he decidedly agreed.

Rose smiled contentedly. "Great, I'm going to change outfits, meet me back out here in fifteen. The restaurant is a bit posh." She looked at him pointedly as if to suggest he should consider changing as well without offending him.

As she walked to her bedroom she mentally assessed her wardrobe options. She didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard, but she wanted to make him at least be curious about what might be underneath her clothes.

She pulled on a semi-casual, knee length, black dress that showed off just the right amount of cleavage. Followed by a pair of nude heels and matching pearl earring and necklace. Next, Rose used magic to apply a sexy smoky eye and glossy lipped makeup look and to fix her hair into more manageable red curls that nearly fell to her waist.

After she was satisfied with the results of her cosmetic magic she stared at herself in the mirror to settle her bubbling nerves. _Just act natural, there's no reason to be nervous,_ she thought to herself. _It's just Scorpius and it's not a date or anything. He said himself he just wants to get reacquainted with each other and this will be a good way to do that. No big deal, I'm completely chill._ Although Rose was telling herself to be relaxed she was actually rather nervous and she just hoped he didn't catch on.

When she emerged from her room Scorpius was already waiting for her by the fire place. He had put on a pair of dark khaki trousers, a white button up shirt which was deliciously rolled to just below his elbows and unbuttoned at the top to show a bit of his chest, stylish brown dress shoes, and an expensive looking silver watch on his left wrist.

His right arm was propped atop the marble fireplace mantle and he was staring into the flames, apparently lost in thought. He hadn't heard her enter the room so she was afforded a moment to ogle his appearance. _Fuck,_ Rose thought, taking in the image of him. _It's hopeless, I'm done for. He looks like he's modeling that fireplace…I'd totally buy that fireplace. Wait, it's already my fireplace… duh, I'm a right idiot. Bullocks, I'm about to go on a "not-date" with this model worthy bloke whom I already live with. Well, we've never done anything conventionally, why start now?_

When he finally looked up to see Rose she could swear that she heard a sharp intake of his breath at the sight of her, but his facial expression remained uniform, without even a hint of what he may be feeling underneath his unwavering stoicism.

Although he had apologized for his past actions, and said that he wanted to get to know each other again, she was still uncertain if he meant as a friend or as something more than that. She had decided to remain casual until he showed some sort of sign that it might be something more, after all she did not want to embarrass herself if he no longer had a romantic inkling towards her. As they had both agreed, they were different people, and perhaps the people they were now weren't suited for each other.

He had hardened over the years and she couldn't read him the way that she used to be able to. As a spy, he no doubt had expertly hidden his identity undercover for three years, which means she could be waiting a very long time for his façade to crack. Her heart sank to her stomach at the thought of waiting any longer than she already had for Scorpius. Now here he was, living with her, and yet he seemed just as out of reach as he always has been. She shook the thoughts from her mind, here he was in front of her, looking as edible as ever—and she had his attention all to herself tonight which was enough to temporarily satisfy the longing feeling that grew within her every day.

They both stepped into the floo which transported them to the back room of Lysander's bookshop. As they dusted themselves off a head popped through the curtains in front of them.

"I thought I heard the sound of the floo," Lysander beamed at them.

He pulled Rose into a hug and then held his arm out to shake Scorpius' hand which he accepted.

Lysander and Rose walked side by side into the store front as Scorpius followed behind them. Lysander shot a sneaky look and a raised eyebrow at Rose, but Scorpius hadn't missed it with his keen attention to detail.

"Well don't you two look fit," he said, eyeing the both of them in their dressy attire. "You couldn't be dressed like that just to visit little old me."

Rose gave Lysander a look that clearly warned him not to embarrass her.

"Actually, we're planning on heading to Bello Italiano," Rose replied, knowing that Lysander will want all of the details on their next meeting.

Scorpius turned his back on them and quietly scanned the shelves of the store, as usual, taking mental notes on his surroundings.

Lysander called after him before he disappeared into the tall rows of shelves, "If you find anything you'd like it's on the house, Scorpius."

Fixing his attention back to Rose he giggled and twirled her around in her dress. "You look absolutely ravishing, Rose, he won't be able to keep his hands off you, no way!"

In a voice barely above a whisper she said, "Hush, that's not the intention!" but the smile that crept upon her lips said otherwise. "Besides, he's impossible to read. I have no idea what's going through his head."

"Oh, I can tell you what's going through his head," he replied suggestively, waggling his eyebrows. Rose playfully hit him on the shoulder and brought her finger to her lips to motion him to be quiet.

"I'm taking it slow, we'll see what happens. For now I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that he's actually back, and under such unbelievable circumstances."

"It is rather unbelievable, and if I were you, I wouldn't waste too much time outside of the bedroom with him." He cracked a cheeky grin.

Rose huffed and Lysander set to wrapping the books she had ordered with thick brown parchment paper and tying them neatly in a stack with twine.

"You know I'm just giving you trouble, Rosy," he said quietly. "but oh, how I love a good rekindled romance story with a brooding man sub-plot." He sighed dreamily.

"Yeah, well, it's no romanticized tale, I can tell you that," she retorted, somewhat aggravated. Lysander knew he was stepping into dangerous territory pushing Rose's buttons on the matter so he backed off a bit.

"Honey, you know, if this is too much for you I'm sure Harry can find him other arrangements." A jealously that Rose didn't know was within her flared up at his statement.

 _No! He can't go, not again!_ She didn't want him to have other "arrangements", she had grown used to his presence in her previously held solitude. A feeling of panic arose in her chest at the thought of when he might be cleared to leave her house. She hadn't thought about it yet, maybe it would be next week or maybe it would be months from now—Harry hadn't specified. The thought just made her more intent on enjoying the time she had left with him.

Before Rose could give Lysander a response, Scorpius had emerged from the stacks with two books in his hand. His appearance immediately eased her worry. He walked towards them and gestured to Rose that he had found some books he'd like to purchase.

"Do you think you could spare some space for a couple more books?"

She chuckled and feigned mock contemplation. "Hmm… I don't know, it's not like I have a lot of books or anything."

He laughed at her sarcasm and placed the books on the counter for Lysander to wrap.

"As I said, they're on the house."

"You're sure?" Scorpius said with his wallet in hand.

"Any friend of Rose's is a friend of mine," Lysander said with a smile. " _A Brief_ _History of Dragons and A Study of Magical Space Travel_ ," Lysander read the titles aloud, "Wow, you really are a match for Rose."

Rose coughed awkwardly and shot Lysander another warning look, but Scorpius was not fazed by his slip of propriety.

"I don't know about that," he said back to Lysander. "It would be nearly impossible to rival Rose's brilliance. You wouldn't believe how long she's able to concentrate on a book without as much as blinking. Sometimes I'm concerned she's forgotten to breath."

Lysander gave a deep laugh, "That sounds like Rosie!"

Rose couldn't speak up right away, she was in a state of shock that Scorpius had basically just admitted that he has watched her while she reads a _nd_ that he thinks her brilliant. _Am I really so oblivious? S_ he wondered as her heart inflated.

Lysander held out their parcel of books and Rose shrunk them to fit in her clutch. He was looking between the pair of them, barely able to contain his joy at the sight of them together and headed off to a romantic dinner.

"Well, right-o, we must be off!" Rose said awkwardly.

"See you on Sunday." Lysander said in a voice that Rose knew meant he would be awaiting every single minute detail of their coming evening.

They walked through the front door this time and out into the street. The sun had already gone down and there was a slight chill in the air as winter was not far away, she regretted not bringing some type of wrap to keep her warm. The scattered street lights illuminated the cobble street roads.

"The restaurant is just down the road this way," she said motioning to her left. "We can walk, if you don't mind that is."

"That's perfectly fine with me. It's a nice night." he replied.

They walked side-by-side in relative silence, both lost in their own train of thought as usual. Their silences were never awkward however, in fact, Rose found them quite comforting. Just being next to Scorpius was enough for her, after being starved of him for so long.

When they reached the restaurant, he held the door open for her as any gentleman would on a date which sent Rose's nerves back on edge.

Settled at their table they both scanned the wine list and food menu. After discussing, they decided to settle on splitting a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Tuscany.

The restaurant was small, yet charming. The lighting was dim, with candles on each white tablecloth covered table. Their wine was brought and poured at the table and both sipped and moaned in delight at the same time. They both laughed at their synchronized timing.

"I think I'll get the Linguine Tutto Mare," she said casually. Scorpius continued to scan the menu.

"How's their carbonara?"

"Delicious!" she gushed.

"Well it's settled then." They gave their ordered to the waiter.

Rose began chattering away about the article she's writing. She told him all about the interview she had last week with the Ministry official that led the legislation on magical forest conservation. "She is such an inspiration, and she's s _o_ knowledgeable it made me feel inferior. Really, she brilliant, and I think she can help inspire witches and wizards to support the conservation efforts—she's really put so much work into the passage of this legislation, it's quite admirable."

As Rose continued about the specifics of the legislation she didn't notice that Scorpius was studying her. The way her dimples made an appearance when she said certain words, the way the cadence of her words would speed up when she was speaking passionately, the way her hair fell across her shoulders, and the shine of happiness in her eyes when she was talking about something she loved. He was completely in awe of her intelligence and beauty, he could listen to her for hours, even if it was about dry legislation.

Rose had become an independent woman; the somewhat childish antics of their past were nowhere to be found. Since he had come to stay with her, Scorpius had observed everything that made Rose who she is. Her books, her music, her sense of humor, her taste in films, her taste in wine, even the meticulously planned décor of her home—he found that these matured pieces of her, which added up to her sum, were undeniably attractive to him. The first sight of her in her black dress early had nearly rendered him speechless.

He was still reeling over the events in China that led to his return, he was still adjusting to normal life—if you could even call their situation normal. He was glad that he had apologized to Rose, she deserved _at least_ that much. However, he was still struggling to let her in, he had learned to suppress everything other past three years and he didn't know any other way to be, even though he knew it wasn't fair to her. He'd never been fair to her. Scorpius couldn't convince himself that he was worthy of her, or even worthy of the generosity she had shown him since his arrival. He had decided after their conversation to get to know her again, as a friend, and not to tempt her into anything untoward, as he had in the past—it was for the best, he had decided without consulting her.

"Scorpius?" She questioned, "Are you even listening to me?" She broke him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat.

"Of course, you were just relaying to me the past 500 years of forest history, in intense detail." He said poking fun at her.

"Well I'm sorry to bore you!" The sound of her laugh made Scorpius' eyes light up.

"No, No. You could never bore me."

Rose blushed, and with perfect timing the waiter arrived with their meals. They spent the next hour eating, drinking, talking, and laughing with one another. The alcohol and amazing food had successfully loosened them both up and the effortless conversation reminded them both of all the times they had spent just like this in the Room of Requirements at Hogwarts.

"I have to admit, I haven't drunk this much in a long time," said Scorpius. "In China I was kind of always on duty, you know? I couldn't get drunk in case I had something important to handle."

Rose wasn't sure what to say, she wasn't sure what she was allowed to know or ask about when it came to Scorpius' time spent in China, and to be honest she too was a bit inebriated. Her head felt like it was swimming in warmth, her heart fluttered in happiness, and her body was alive with a buzz of anxiety from his proximity. They both recognized the familiar vibration of their connection to one another, there was certainly deeper magic at play between the two, whether they realized it or not.

She was surprised when Scorpius continued to talk about China, it was the most he had spoken of it so far. He didn't discuss anything specific, but relayed memories of what the country side was like and the cultural differences. She was eager to hear anything he was willing to tell, she wanted desperately for him to feel like he can share with her.

Eyeing his hand atop the table, Rose wished she could grab onto him and hold his hand, but she stopped herself as not to interrupt his mood. Eventually, their check came and they left the restaurant to go back home, Rose was disheartened at the thought of the night being over.

As they were walking back to Lysander's shop to floo home Scorpius suddenly swung an arm around Rose's shoulders. Her stomach was doing somersaults at the feel of his warm body pressed against hers. They walked the rest of the way to the shop this way, as if it were completely natural. Rose was delighted by Scorpius' sudden openness with her and hoped it would continue.

When they were back in her living room Scorpius seemed restless.

"Are you ok?" she asked him hesitantly. He fidgeted with a button on his shirt.

"Yeah, I just…" he swallowed. "Let's not go to bed, we can have more wine." The look he was giving her with his eyes was impossible to turn down, and she wanted more time with him. She laughed, amused at his semi-drunken state.

"Is more wine a good idea?" She asked.

"Rose, more wine is a _lways_ a good idea."

She absolutely loved the sound of her name from his mouth, and she was thankful he wanted to spend more time with her.

As Rose went to the kitchen for wine glasses and a bottle Scorpius kicked his shoes off onto the rug and walked over to her record player. He chose an album by Neil Young and turned the volume down enough for it to just play lightly in the background, then he cast a spell so that the music would play outdoors and they could sit outside on the deck.

Rose laughed to herself from the other room when she heard what he had chosen to play.

"I didn't take you for a Neil Diamond fan." She called out to him.

He smiled and walked through the glass door to the deck.

"I'm full of surprises."

"Apparently so." She mused lightheartedly.

Rose set the glasses full of wine on the round table and took off her own shoes. Rose summoned two blankets from inside and wrapped one around her and offered the other to Scorpius who laid it across his lap. They settled into the large cushion chairs and with a flick of his wand Scorpius lit a fire in the stone hearth. They both noticed the reflection of the moon on the water's surface below and looked to the sky to stare in praise and admiration of the beauty of the universe outside of their reach.

Suddenly, and in a moment of open honesty fueled by the alcohol, Scorpius said, "I miss my parents…they don't even know I'm back, or if I'm even alive."

Rose froze at his words. She was suddenly overcome with the realization of her selfishness. She has always made Scorpius' absence about herself. Just earlier she had been terrified at the thought of him leaving, but now she saw with clarity that Scorpius has sacrificed those three years of his life for the Ministry and now he was probably wondering when he will get to see his family again or if he will even have a chance at a normal life. She was sure that his parents' hearts were broken like her own had been.

"I'm sure they miss you a lot, Scorpius," she reassured him, "So…Harry hasn't said….you know, hasn't mention when you might be able to return home?"

Scorpius sighed, "No, and there's a lot I can't explain." He said sternly.

"I know," she said quickly, "You don't have to tell me anything." She was trying to tread carefully, she could already see he was on the verge of building his wall back around him.

He shook his head solemnly and took a drink from his glass.

The song playing in the background changed and Scorpius' face broke out into a smile at the start of the next. _Wow, he really changes moods quickly, I'm exhausted trying to keep up._ She thought.

"Dance with me." He said simply.

She looked at him in disbelief.

"Dance with you…" she repeated slowly, "It that such a good idea?" She asked him as she surveyed his face, looking for anything to explain to her what he was thinking.

"Come on," he egged, standing up and moving in front of her chair, "For old time's sake." He held out a hand and he was giving her that look again, she couldn't say no.

She timidly grabbed his hand and he pulled her near to him. The feel of his body sent waves of warmth through her core. Once they started swaying together she laid her head down on his chest, suddenly tired and overcome with exhaustion from feeling so many passing emotions in the span of one evening. She felt the pang of nostalgia, remembering how they would do this in the Room of Requirements at Hogwarts. Except back then she wouldn't have to pretend like she didn't intensely want to kiss him.

He rested his head atop hers and they continued swaying. It was only then that Rose recognized the song, it was playing so softly it was nearly hard to hear, but Rose already knew the lyrics, it was one she had listened to many times before and it always made her think of him. She closed her eyes and let herself feel lost in such a perfect moment.

 _Because I'm still in love with you,_

 _I want to see you dance again_

 _Because I'm still in love with you,_

 _On this harvest moon._

 _When we were strangers_

 _I watched you from afar_

 _When we were lovers_

 _I loved you with all my heart_

 _Not its getting' late_

 _And the moon is climbin' high…._

Rose found herself squeezing her eyes together for the second time that day to try to collect herself. She thought that it was probably a really bad idea for them to be dancing like this, especially after drinking. Standing in his strong arms made her feel like her heart would beat right out of her chest. _This will only complicate everything, but I just want to stay in his arms a bit longer…just let me stay a bit longer…please, s_ he pleaded in her mind to no one _._

The song faded out and Scorpius stopped their swaying. He took a small step back, still held her waist, and looked down to meet Roses big almond shaped eyes. He was overwhelmed by his urge to close the gap and kiss her soft familiar lips. Instead, he let the intense warmth of excitement wash over his body and dissipate. He sat back down into the chair and she just looked at him for a moment. Both were breathing more heavily than usual, unsure what to say after the apparent breach of their current friendship terms. Lust hung heavy in the air.

Rose thought back on the evening, everything they had done that night seemed like something that couples do together. Not things that are done by two people who are trying to straighten out 8 years of a dysfunctional "non-relationship" relationship. Then again, him living with her isn't something that should probably be doing either but here they were.

The alcohol, the dance, Scorpius and his bloody gorgeousness, were all affecting Rose. Her head felt dizzy and she knew she needed to go to bed before she made some sort of irrational decision.

"Scorpius," she started, but he cut her off.

"I know, you thought that was inappropriate, I'm sorry!"

"No, it's not that, I enjoyed that, I've enjoyed the entire night… it's been…perfect and…" she trailed off, forgetting what she really wanted to say, unsure whether she ever knew what she wanted to say in the first place.

He watched as she bit her lip— her hair was disheveled, her cheeks were rosy from the alcohol, she was standing in front of him in that gorgeous dress that showed the tops of her beautiful breasts. It took all of his energy not to pick her right up and carry her into her room, lay her down on the bed, climb slowly on top of her, breathing in her scent…. He shook the thought from his mind. Both stood looking at each other in painful confusion.

"Let's not ruin the night then," he said decidedly. "We'll leave it as it is, and go to sleep."

She was glad he understood what she was trying to communicate without words. It was all too much for one night.

He vanished the wine glasses and took her hand to lead her inside. He walked her all the way to her bedroom door with her hand clasped in his like that. Once at the door he looked down at her and said, "Goodnight, Rose." And softly kissed her forehead before detaching from her and heading this his own room.

The void created inside him with the lack of her presence grew wider with each step he took away from her, and she felt it too. Both laid awake in their beds that night replaying the events of the night in their head, both worrying that they had done something to disturb the peace they had so carefully established over the past few weeks together. _Fuck the peace,_ thought Rose, before drifting into dreams of him.

 **A/N: *hides* Sorry, I know it's been a long time, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter full of slow burning ScoRose romance. Song credit to Neil Diamond, Harvest Moon.**


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